Techmeme: European Commission to investigate Irish tax arrangements with Apple (RTÉ)

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June 11, 2014, 4:55 AM

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Deepa Seetharaman / Reuters:

Exclusive: Amazon.com plans local services marketplace this year - sources — (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc later this year plans to launch a marketplace for local services, a broad term that encompasses anything from babysitters to handymen to birthday clowns, beginning with a single market, several people familiar with the matter said.

More: TIME, TechCrunch, TechSpot, Forbes, Ubergizmo, VentureBeat, Ars Technica, Engadget, Gizmodo, WebProNews and The Verge

Liz Gannes / Re/code:

Google Pays $500M for Satellite Maker Skybox, for Photos and Eventually Internet Access — Google said on Tuesday it had bought Skybox Imaging, a company that provides high-resolution photos using satellites, for $500 million in cash. — Google explained the deal as such …

Robinson Meyer / The Atlantic Online:

Google's Skybox acquisition helps extend global internet access, enables cloud service for data about Earth

More: Skybox Imaging, Gizmodo and VentureBeat. Tweets: @theatlantictech. Thanks:@alexismadrigal

Bonnie Cha / Re/code:

SwiftKey Ditches Paid App, Goes Free With Launch of New Themes Store — SwiftKey, the popular predictive keyboard for Android, is going free as of today, and not just for a limited time. — The change is part of an update rolling out to the app now, which also includes the launch …

More: The Next Web, BetaNews, CNET News, LAPTOP Magazine, Engadget, TechCrunch, The Verge, Gigaom, Guardian, Forbes and Technology Personalized

Lisa Fleisher / Wall Street Journal:

Taxi Drivers Plan Big Protests in Europe Against Uber — Planned Demonstrations in London, Madrid, France, Berlin Highlight Challenges Facing Uber and Its Peers — LONDON—Taxi drivers planned to turn a handful of European city centers into giant parking lots Wednesday …

More: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Tech.eu, Bloomberg, ZDNet, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Independent, Financial Times, Reuters and BBC

Tweets: @puiwingtam, @sacca, @urbanophile, @rorywsj and @startupljackson

Ann-Christine Diaz / AdAge:

Apple is urgently building an internal ad agency of 1000 people, poaching industry executives, pitting internal creative against external agencies — For Apple, Marketing Is a Whole New Game — Here's What the Company's Doing to Regain Its Edge — By Ann-Christine Diaz, Maureen Morrison.

More: VentureBeat, Guardian, Business Insider, The Register, Engadget, bizjournals, Ubergizmo, iPhone, I4U News, Gigaom, AppleInsider, The Verge, iMore, Re/code, iDownloadBlog.com, Cult of Mac, iPhone in Canada Blog, App Advice, 9to5Mac, iPhone Hacks, MacRumors, MacNN, iLounge and BGR. Tweets: @fromedome

Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:

Index Ventures Raises New $550M Early-Stage Fund For Europe, The US And Israel — Index Ventures has announced a new early-stage, €400 million ($550 million) fund aimed at tech startups in Europe, US and Israel. This is its seventh early-stage fund and part of a total €3 billion …

More: The Next Web, Forbes, Financial Times, CNET News, Wall Street Journal, Techworld.com, New York Times, Guardian, Business news and Bloomberg

Chance Miller / 9to5Google:

Entirely new 1Password for Android app now available with redesigned interface, totally free until August 1 — After teasing the redesign earlier this year, 1Password has finally launched a much-needed update to its Android app. Prior to this update, 1Password on Android was hideous, to say the least.

More: Agile Blog, PC World, The Verge, PhoneDog, Lifehacker, Droid Life, Android Central and Business Insider

Hunter Walk:

Money Doesn't Talk. Why Most Startups Aren't Announcing Their Seed Financings — Most of the startups we've backed at Homebrew don't rush to announce their funding. Not because they're all operating in stealth or pre-product - in fact some already are earning $1m+ in revenue per annum.

Tweets: @adrianblake, @bobbyisaacson, @fabianhansmann and @romainlavault

RTÉ:

European Commission to investigate Irish tax arrangements with Apple — Ireland has been accused of creating a system that allowed Apple to sidestep large tax payments worldwide — The European Commission is to open a formal investigation into Apple's tax arrangements with Ireland.

More: Reuters, 9to5Mac, The Next Web, The Register, iPhone in Canada Blog, Re/code, AppleInsider, ZDNet and Electronista

Sam Gustin / Motherboard:

The FCC Was Hacked After John Oliver Called for Net Neutrality Trolls — When HBO host John Oliver called for Internet trolls to deluge the Federal Communications Commission with comments about net neutrality, he may not have expected for the FCC's site to get shut down.

More: Engadget, The Verge and Search Engine Watch. Tweets: @digiphile

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

How a credulous media repeated dubious claims of a Turing Test milestone — No, A ‘Supercomputer’ Did NOT Pass The Turing Test For The First Time And Everyone Should Know Better — So, this weekend's news in the tech world was flooded with a “story” about how a “chatbot” passed the Turing Test for …

More: Wired, The Daily Beast, Telegraph, Wall Street Journal, Computerworld, Neowin, Business Insider, Slate, Washington Post, Guardian, NPR, New Yorker, New World Notes, InvestorPlace, New Scientist, Mashable and TechSpot

Tweets: @ksigler and @donttrythis

See also Mediagazer

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

Microsoft fights U.S. search warrant for customer e-mails held in overseas server — Microsoft, one of the world's largest e-mail providers, is resisting a government search warrant to compel the firm to turn over customer data held in a server located overseas.

More: New York Times, Wall Street Journal and PC World. Tweets: @bradsmi

Liz Stinson / Wired:

Preorders open for Ringly, a $145-180 Bluetooth ring that vibrates and blinks with phone notifications — This Jewelry Lights Up and Buzzes When Your Phone Needs You — We've all done it: You're at a restaurant, enjoying a nice moment with a friend when all of a sudden you hear your phone buzz.

More: MacRumors, VentureBeat, Business Insider, PandoDaily, Digital Trends, Wall Street Journal, CNET News, TechCrunch, Thisisgoingtobebig.com, Electronista, Entrepreneur, Crowdfund Insider, Ubergizmo and tech.co. Tweets: @fmanjoo

Dan Frakes / Macworld:

Longtime Apple-accessory distributor Dr. Bott files for bankruptcy — Online retailer and distributor Dr. Bott, a fixture in the Apple-accessory market since the late 1990s, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in its home state of Oregon, according to public records and information provided to Macworld.

More: The Mac Observer

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Lady Gaga's Backplane Pivots To Let You Build And Monetize Your Own Social Network — Why should Facebook or Ning earn the money if you bring the audience? Backplane wants to put that cash in your pocket. That's why it's pivoting from building social networks for big brands and celebrities …

Tweets: @mcmichelsen

Tom Wheeler / Official FCC Blog:

Wheeler: state laws hurt broadband access in places like Chattanooga; FCC could preempt rules — Removing Barriers to Competitive Community Broadband — If any city understands the power of networks to drive economic growth, it's Chattanooga, Tennessee.

More: NationalJournal.com. See also Mediagazer

Dan Rayburn / StreamingMediaBlog.com:

New Data Questions Netflix's Assertion That ISPs Are At Fault For Poor Quality — In the Netflix versus ISPs peering dispute, there are a lot of opinions and debate around who's at fault for letting some peering points degrade and who should be responsible for upgrading them.

Thanks:@danrayburn

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Amobee Buys Adconion For $235M And Kontera For $150M In Consolidation Play — Another day, and another two big acquisitions in the digital advertising industry. Amobee, a mobile ad company acquired by Singapore's main carrier SingTel two years ago for $321 million, is buying …

More: Re/code, MarketWatch, AdExchanger, VentureBeat, Reuters, The Next Web, a•mo•bee and socalTECH.com. Thanks:@aurlibokovza

David Pierce / The Verge:

Samsung Chromebook 2 review: excellent portability & battery, processor struggles to multitask — Samsung Chromebook 2 review — Still waiting for the truly great, truly beautiful, truly portable Chromebook — Two years ago, Samsung made the first great Chromebook.

More: Computerworld and Softpedia News

David Kravets / Ars Technica:

Google's university book scanning can move ahead without authors' OK — A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the right of universities, in conjunction with Google, to scan millions of library books without the authors' permission. — The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals …

More: Associated Press, Techdirt and Gigaom. See also Mediagazer

Nathan Ingraham / The Verge:

Honeywell takes on Nest with $279 Lyric smart thermostat, available in Lowe's stores by August — The heat is on: Honeywell is finally ready to challenge the Nest thermostat — The Lyric thermostat builds on Nest's iconic design — The idea of a connected home …

More: The Next Web, PR Newswire, TechHive, 9to5Mac, Good E-Reader, MobileSyrup.com, San Francisco Chronicle, iPhone in Canada Blog, PandoDaily, BetaNews, Engadget, Electronista, Technologizer, TIME, VentureBeat, Gigaom, Connectedly, Wall Street Journal, SlashGear, SlashGear, Phandroid, VatorNews, BGR and Gizmodo

Tweets: @howardlindzon, @ryan and @ryan

Jon Fingas / Engadget:

Formlabs' second-gen pro 3D printer is 50 percent faster — Formlabs' Form1 was a top dog among 3D printers when it first shipped, but others have stepped up their game in the past year. It's about time for an upgrade, don't you think? Appropriately, the company has just unveiled the Form1+ …

More: formlabs.com, Gigaom, PC Magazine, Maximum PC, Computerworld, TCT, Cool Hunting, PR Newswire and 3DPrint.com

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Dropbox For Business Acquires MobileSpan To Make Bring-Your-Own-Device More Secure — Dropbox has just acquired MobileSpan, a startup that helps enterprise employees access corporate firewalled content securely. MobileSpan will shut down at the end of 2014, and active development will cease immediately.

More: MobileSpan, Gigaom, VentureBeat, ZDNet and CITEworld Matt Weinberger. Tweets: @joshconstine

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